With thick skin, a heavily scaled body, and perfect camouflage, this lizard is well adapted to living in one of the harshest environments in the world
Text and photos by: Soumabrata Moulick
With thick skin, a heavily scaled body, and perfect camouflage, this lizard is well adapted to living in one of the harshest environments in the world
With an exceptional variety of habitats, India has an astounding amount of biodiversity across its range. One of the habitats that remains largely unexplored is the hot desert, the Thar. Spread across northwestern India and some parts of eastern Pakistan, the world’s smallest and most populated desert is home to specialised species, some of which are found nowhere else in the world.
To the untrained eye the Thar may seem lifeless but look closely and you may just see some faint markings on the sand, a glimpse of something small sitting atop a dune. Blink and it’s gone. The charm of these fleeting moments has drawn me time and again to this landscape, harsh yet teeming with life.
No matter how many times I visit the Thar, on top of my list of creatures to find is the Laungwala or Rajasthan toad-headed lizard (Bufoniceps laungwalaensis). This agamid is named after Longewala, a border village famous for a historic battle during the India-Pakistan war of 1971. Though described by Dr R C Sharma back in 1978, it is still shrouded in mystery with little known about its behaviour, ecology or any other aspects of its life. Initially thought to be a cousin of Theobald’s toad-headed agama (Phrynocephalus theobaldi) from the cold mountain regions of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, it was later realised that there are clear morphological differences which make the Laungwala toad-headed agama unique. Given its uniqueness, a new genus, Bufoniceps, was introduced to classify it. This genus remains monotypic to date i.e., there is only a single species classified under it, the Laungwala toad-headed agama. This lizard is endemic to the Thar desert which is the only place in the world where it is found.
Locally, it is referred to as “girgit” or “chipkali” which are general terms for agamids and lizards including geckos. The magnificence of this species becomes apparent only when you set eyes on it. And once you spot it, it’s hard not to respect this little braveheart who lives in the dunes of the Thar.
The agamid is adapted to perfection for life amid barren dunes. It braves one of the harshest environments on the planet where even vegetation is constrained to less than two per cent of the area. With the Thar being the most populated desert in the world, pristine dune habitats are under constant threat because of aggravated human activity as more and more areas are explored for agriculture and tourism.
At just around 11 cm (maximum) in size, it braves fast-flying sand particles which act like little bullets in the wind. Thanks to its thick skin and heavily scaled body, it not only survives but thrives on undisturbed barren dunes.
As they move over the dunes, these lizards leave tell-tale tracks and sometimes at the end of the tracks you find these typical depressions in the sand where the lizard is buried fully or partially underneath, waiting for its next meal. The burying behaviour is also a common response to the perception of a threat nearby.
Diurnal in nature, they can be found throughout the year, but during winters their activity is constrained to bright sunny days only. As the weather warms up, their activity picks up pace, peaking during the summer months when temperatures can soar well above 50 degrees Celsius. It is mind-boggling to see them comfortably sit atop dunes which are hot enough to burn human skin.
Extremely swift when moving over dunes, the agamid buries itself in the sand with a rapid wiggling and shivering movement and waits to ambush unsuspecting prey. Its prey consists of insects, mainly large black and small red ants. Ants and other insects make up about 50 per cent of its diet, while beetles, bees, grasshoppers and wasps make up the rest.
When it feels threatened, the lizard sometimes raises its body on all fours with the tail pointing down, and mouth open. Most times, however, it prefers to flee, running away swiftly to bury itself in the sand at a suitable spot on the dunes or near a shrub.
The Laungwala toad-headed lizard is mostly sand-coloured with interspersed light cream, red, black, and orange spots. The colouration helps camouflage it in the desert environment. Some individuals also have a pair of blue spots near their forelimbs, and in some, you can see lateral bright-orange or blue streaking.
This lizard’s snout is very short and positioned at the top. The head overall is quite small compared to the body earning it the name “toad-headed”. Tiny external ears are present that differentiate it morphologically from its northern cousin, Theobald’s toad-headed agama. Unlike other toad-headed agamas around the world, this one’s tail is quite short compared to the body and gives it a unique appearance.
Laungwala toad-headed lizard is preyed upon by desert specialists such as the Indian desert fox (Vulpes vulpes pusilla) and birds of prey like the laggar falcon (Falco jugger), and common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). Day or night, predators are out, looking for the agama’s hiding spots.
Although well adapted to living in an extremely harsh climate, the Laungwala toad-headed agama populations seem to be buckling under the rapid changes happening in the Thar. Tourism is one of the primary sources of income in the area, and disturbances due to tourism and forced afforestation are two primary reasons for the destruction of barren dune habitats as noted by Dr Ishan Agarwal and his colleagues in their 2009 paper on the species. Personally too, I’ve observed a steady decline in the numbers of Laungwala toad-headed agamas as more and more dunes are being explored and afforested and the trend doesn’t seem to be changing any soon. I hope someday conservation measures will be undertaken to safeguard the magnificent habitat of this agamid that I affectionately refer to as the “dune dino”.
is a nature, wildlife and conservation photographer from India. Known for his unique take on subjects and habitats, his work has been published and recognised widely.
